Common name: Collard Aracari

Type: Bird

Family: Ramphastidae

Range: The range of this Collard Aracari bird is normally from southern Mexico to Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador but the can no live usually above elevations of 100 meters or in case of southeastern part of Costa Rica at the elevations of 1200 m.

Size: The size of this Collard Aracari bird is typically 39 to 41 centimeters (15-16 inches) long.

Weight: This large bird weighs around 190 to 275 grams (6.7-9.7 Oz)

Diet: This bird is omnivorous one that eats insects, lizards, eggs of other birds, fruits and also the fledgling birds of other species in the wild. If the bird is in captivity, it eats the mix of fresh fruit and dry dog food. It is better to keep the diet of this bird as high and low one depending on the needs. This is because the high iron can cause damage to the health of the bird and leads to death. In order to expel the excess iron, it would be better to give a weak tea once in a month.

Average lifespan: The average lifespan of this Collard Aracari is normally around 15 to 20 years.

Habitat: The habitant of Collard Aracari is normally to live in the Caribbean lowland and premontane forests. You can’t find this bird in the deforested areas. It normally lives in the elevation of 1,000 meters and 1,200 meters high in the southeastern parts of Costa Rica. You can find this bird only on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, and rarely expect this in other southern parts of the country. You can find this bird in La Selva, eastern portions of Santa Rosa National Park, Cahuita National Park and Tortuguero National Park of Costa Rica.

Breeding/Reproduction: If you think about the breeding of Collard Aracari, it is a resident breeder normally breeds in the lower land forests and sometimes in the open land. The female bird lays 3 white eggs in the unlined natural cavity or in an old woodpecker nest available.

The incubation of the eggs has done by both the sexes along with three more adults. These three adults may be from previous brood. The incubation period of this bird is 16 days. The toucan chicks would remain in the nest after hatching and they fledge about after 6 weeks. The adults would probably feed food to the chicks for several weeks even after they are leaving the nest.

The Collard Aracari bird is normally naked and blind at birth. It has specialized parts on heels to protect them and also the bill is short one. This is normally different from other toucans since they are social throughout the year. During the nighttime, up to six adults and the fledged bird can sleep in one hole on the tree by folded their tails over the back. It normally breeds only once in a year.

If you consider about the toucan birds available in the Costa Rica, Collard Aracari is one of the rich colored bird from the toucan family. Both sexes of Collard Aracari are similar one by appearance. They have their head and chest as black and upper parts as dark olive green. Rump and the upper tail of this bird are red in color. The rear neck contains reddish color, which is treated as the reason for the rise of English and Scientific names. Most of the under parts of the bird is bright yellow.

The center part of the breast contains the round black spot and the belly contains a red-tinted black band across it. The thighs of the bird are chestnut. The facial skin is black in color and it becomes reddish behind the yellow eye. You can see the dull yellow color on the upper mandible of the bill, which has a black tip. The cutting-edge of the bill is marked with a black saw-tooth pattern. The lower mandible is in the color of black and it has green legs.

The young Aracaris are duller. They are available with head in sooty-black and upper parts as brownish green in color. They have under parts and rump as paler one, which is normally yellow and red in adults respectively. The belly band, breast spot and bill pattern are treated as the indistinct one.

These Collard Aracari birds mostly want to fly over the sky to get more entertainment. Normally the group of 6 to 15 birds move through the forest and that too as the rapid direct flight. When they flight over the sky, you could probably hear the call of them as a loud one with the sound pseek or peeseek that is sharp. Most of the time they are very silent one and they have varieties of muted calls and alarm as shriek.

Among the 16 species of Neotropical birds that show care to other birds, 14 species are Aracaris. You can see the cooperative care of these birds even from the non-parents. They enjoy with the cozy relationship among them. The helping behavior of these birds continues from the birth to death. These birds would attain the breeding and nesting stage after two years and before that they learn to gather foods and other things, in order to make their nesting as the best one. They mostly follow the adults.

When you visit Costa Rica, it would be better to go through the Selva Verde Lodge or any other parks available to enjoy the beauty and unity of these birds. Compare to other birds available in Costa Rica these birds are treated as rare aggressive and multicolored birds.

There are some people who also have Collard Aracari in their home as pets. Normally you can find these birds living in the homes of Australia. If you want to have this bird as pet, it is necessary to give some space for the bird to fly. Since it is the bird of rainforest you have to allow it to bath and shower in the ponds available.

These birds are available in the national parks such as Tortuguero National Park, Cahuita National Park, eastern parts of Santa Rosa National Park, La Selva,

You have to take care of these Collard Aracari birds in very minute manner from food to entertainment of the bird. Because of this, it would be better to enjoy bird watching in the forests and parks of Costa Rica rather than have the bird as your pet.